Feeding rod-shaped articles into bins

ABSTRACT

The invention deals with means to prime a bin with rod-shaped articles such as filter rods and cigarettes. The articles are fed at one end of the bin between an arm and an overlying curtain which maintains the orientation of the articles. The articles between these two elements press on a switch which causes the arm to swing through the bin in a step-by-step operation. Eventually when the volume of articles is such that they can form a heap on their own, the arm becomes inoperative and an endless conveyor in the base of the bin is caused to move in response to the switch.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Mauritz L. Strydom Stellenbosch,Republic of South Africa [21] Appl. No. 812,063 [22] Filed Apr. 1, 1969[45] Patented Feb. 23, 1971 [73] Assignee Tobacco Research andDevelopment Institute Limited Zug, Switzerland [32] Priority Apr. 9,1968 [33] Republic of South Africa [31 68/2256 [54] FEEDING ROD-SHAPEDARTICLES INTO BINS Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Att0rneyY0ung &Thompson ABSTRACT: The invention deals with means to prime a bin withrod-shaped articles such as filter rods and cigarettes. The articles arefed at one end of the bin between an arm and an overlying curtain whichmaintains the orientation of the arti- 8 Claims 5 Drawing Figs cles. Thearticles between these two elements press on a [52] U.S. CI 198/44,switch which causes the arm to swing through the bin in a step- 198/57,198/69 by-step operation. Eventually when the volume of articles is [51]Int. Cl ..B65g 47/00, such that they can form a heap on their own, thearm becomes B65g 47/18 inoperative and an endless conveyor in the baseof the bin is [50] Field ol'Sear-ch 198/69, 44, caused to move inresponse to the switch.

I5 I 4 O O O O O O O O OO j |5\ M g I 9 19 /n I 23 I6 as] PATENTEU FEB23I8?! SHEET 1 OF 2 FEEDING ROD-SHAPED ARTICLES INTO BINS This inventionrelates to the feeding into bins.

In cigarette manufacture where articles such as cigarettes or filer rodsare stored in bins,'the storage bin has to be primed with an initialsupply of articles before the bin can operate successfully. For examplein the bins disclosed in South African patent specification No. 66/615hand priming has to be resorted to at the beginning of each cycle ofoperations or at least an operator has to be present and has tomanipulate of rod-shaped articles the incoming rods in the initialstages.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus which will allow abin to be primed with the minimum 'of human attention.

The invention provides the combination of a bin composed of parallelsidewalls and a base; a support arm capable of sweeping the bin from areceiving position in which the arm is substantially parallel to thebase through the cavity of the bin to a neutral position in which thearm leaves the bin cavity substantially unobstructed; a constrainingelement which overlies the support arm in its first position; means tofeed rodshaped articles into the space below the constraining means andabove the support arm when the latter is in the first position; meansresponsive to the pressure of articles accumulated between the curtainand the support arm to cause the arm to move from the receiving positiontowards the neutral position; and means to contain a body of articlesaccumulated in the expanding space between the arm and the constrainingelement along a third side at least until thatbody reaches its naturalangle of repose on the base of the bin.

The invention is further described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which: 7 V

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through an end of a bin at the start ofa priming operation, 1

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the bin in full operation,

FIG. 3 is an end view of the bin of FIGS. 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section through an end of another embodiment ofthe invention, and

FIG. 5 is view illustrating a curtain suitable for use with bothembodiments. V

The bin shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 has parallel sidewalls 6, an arcuate endwall 7 anda belt conveyor 8 forming the base of the bin and driven by adrive means not shown. v p g An arm 9 in the form of a flat plate issecured to a shaft 10 which may be driven in a clockwise direction fromthe position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 2. At the endof the.arm 9 there is a flap 11 which in the starting position is foldedas shown in FIG. 1 and ends up in the position shown in FIG. 2. In otherwords the fiap 11 is hinged to the arm 9 by a hinge which allows it toflap in one direction only.

At the top of the bin there is a conveyor l2which feeds rodshapedarticles such as filter rods or cigarettes on to the flap 9 in FIG. 1.Above the arm 9 there is a curtain 13 which extends across the arm 9. Inother words the conveyor 12 feeds articles into the space between thecurtain l3 and the arm 9 with the curtain helping to maintain theorientation of the arriving rods.

Above the curtain 13 there is a pressure-sensitive switch 14 whichactuates the drive of the shaft 10 in the clockwise direction.

On the shaft 9 there is a cam 15 which'actuates a switch 16 that in turncauses the drive of the conveyor 8 to operate.

Above the conveyor 8 there is a photoelectric detector 18 which in theabsence of rods between its light source and cell causes the shaft 10 toturn in the counterclockwise direction.

When the bin is empty, the parts are. in the position shown in FIG. 1.As rods are fed into the space between the curtain 13 and the arm 9, thecurtain lifts until the switch 14 is actuated. As a result the shaft 10with the arm 9 commences to move clockwise until pressure on the switch14 ceases. However, as the feed continues, the arm 9 moves almostcontinuously.

As the arm 9 passes the vertical, the flap l-l straightens out andtogether with a curtain 17 attached at thehinge line of the flap 1]helps to contain the rods in a direction opposed to the end wall 7.

When the arm 9 is above the angle of repose of the rods, (the chain lineposition in FIG. I) the switch 16 is actuated and the belt 8 starts tomove. When the arm 9 reaches the position shown in FIG. 2, the switch 16is no longer actuated and the switch 14 takes over control of themovement of the belt 8 and the arm 9 isbraked in the position in FIG. 2.

If at any stage hereafter the detector 18 detects the absence of rods,the arm 9 is caused to move counterclockwise and back to the FIG. 1position.

In effect to prime the bin all that is required is to switch on thecontrols and to cause the conveyor I2 to feed in rods. Thereafterpriming of the bin and the subsequent operations can take place withouthuman intervention.

There is a curtain 19 which initially is draped over the arm 9 andassists in maintaining the orientation of the rods as the arm movestowards its FIG. 2 position.

The curtains l9, l7 and 13 can be made of fairly heavy flexible materialor they can consist of the form described below with reference to FIG.5.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 there is no end wall but there are sidewalls6 and a conveyor 8 as before. In this case an arm 20 is mounted on ashaft to pivot between a first position shown in chain line and a secondposition shown in full and in which second position the arm 20 forms andend wall to the bin.

A series of curtains 22 to 30 cooperate with the arm 20 to contain therods that are fed in this case through a slot 31 opening above the firstposition of the arm 20. The rods are propelled along the slot by meansof a rotor 32.

Above the first position of the arm 20 there is a pressuresensitiveswitch 33. In the second position the arm 20 actuates a switch 36.Furthermore there is a photosensitive detector 38.

At least the curtain 23 is constructed in the manner illustrated in FIG.5. The curtain there illustrated is narrower in width than the bin andthe length of the rod-shaped articles. It has two flexible tapes 40spanned by rods 41. In the case of the curtain 23 the upper rods 41 areleft out to allow the sensor arm of the switch 33 to be pressed upon byrods behind the curtain 22. In the case ofother curtains the rods 41 mayform a complete ladder or they may be left out towards the top wherethey serve no useful purpose.

In use the arm 20 starts off in the chain line position. The curtains 22and 23 are draped to provide a resistance to rods emerging from the slot31. As more and more rods accumulate between the arm 20 and the curtain22, the switch 33 is actuated to cause the arm 20 to movecounterclockwise. The movement continues while rods are fed in until thearm reaches-the full line position and actuates the switch 36. This putsthe drive means of the shaft 21 out of action and the switch 34 nowtakes over control of the drive of the conveyor 8.

As in the previous embodiment the detector 38 monitors the absence ofrods and causes the arm 20 to move back, this time in a clockwisedirection.

Iclaim:

l. The combination of abin composed of parallel sidewalls and a base; asupport armarranged to sweep the bin from a receiving position in whichthe arm is substantially parallel to and above the base through thecavity of the bin to a neutral position in which the arm leaves the bincavity substantially unobstructed; a constraining element which overliesthe support arm in its receiving position; means to feed rod-shapedarticles into the space below the constraining element and above thesupport arm when the latter is in the receiving position; meansresponsive to the pressure of articles accumulated between theconstraining element and the support arm to cause the arm to move fromthe receiving position towards the neutral position; and means tocontain a body of articles accumulated in the expanding space betweenthe arm and the constraining element along a anyexposed face at leastuntil that body reaches its natural angle of repose on the base of thebin.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the constraining elementis a curtain.

3. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the containing means isan end wall to the'bin, the arm sweeping the bin in contact with the endwall.

4. The combination claimed in claim 3 in which the arm is extensible.

5. The combination claimed in claim 4 including means to cause the armto move to a position overlying the bin cavity after the arm forms anangle with the base which exceeds the angle of repose of the accumulatedarticles.

6. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the arm in its neutralposition forms an end wall to the bin, the containing means being aseries ofcurtains hanging in and above the orbit of the arm.

7. The combination claimed in claim I in which the base of the bin isformed by an endless conveyor band, and including means to drive theband, the drive means only becoming operative after the arm has movedinto its neutral position.

8. The combination claimed in-claim 1 including means to detect theabsence of articles at a predetermined position on the base, thedetecting means being arranged to actuate reversal of the arm towardsits receiving position.

1. The combination of a bin composed of parallel sidewalls and a base; asupport arm arranged to sweep the bin from a receiving position in whichthe arm is substantially parallel to and above the base through thecavity of the bin to a neutral position in which the arm leaves the bincavity substantially unobstructed; a constraining element which overliesthe support arm in its receiving position; means to feed rod-shapedarticles into the space below the constraining element and above thesupport arm when the latter is in the receiving position; meansresponsive to the pressure of articles accumulated between theconstraining element and the support arm to cause the arm to move fromthe receiving position towards the neutral position; and means tocontain a body of articles accumulated in the expanding space betweenthe arm and the constraining element along a any exposed face at leastuntil that body reaches its natural angle of repose on the base of thebin.
 2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the constrainingelement is a curtain.
 3. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which thecontaining means is an end wall to the bin, the arm sweeping the bin incontact with the end wall.
 4. The combination claimed in claim 3 inwhich the arm is extensible.
 5. The combination claimed in claim 4including means to cause the arm to move to a position overlying the bincavity after the arm forms an angle with the base which exceeds theangle of repose of the accumulated articles.
 6. The combination claimedin claim 1 in which the arm in its neutral position forms an end wall tothe bin, the containing means being a series of curtains hanging in andabove the orbit of the arm.
 7. The combination claimed in claim 1 inwhich the base of the bin is formed by an endless conveyor band, andincluding means to drive the band, the drive means only becomingoperative after the arm has moved into its neutral position.
 8. Thecombination claimed in claim 1 including means to detect the absence ofarticles at a predetermined position on the base, the detecting meansbeing arranged to actuate reversal of the arm towards its receivingposition.